Scotland reeled off defeat before defeating Fiji

Scotland made 14 changes from the team against South Africa last week, a team transformed in more ways than one.

The fire they showed in Pretoria evaporated in the first 40. Fiji dominated the opening half as they defended valiantly and attacked excitingly.

There was a rare balance in their game – true to their DNA, yes, but not slaves to it. They had an energy, a flair and a discipline that saw them outscore the Scots by three tries to one in the first half.

Gray struck first after a fine line break by Ollie Smith, the outside center wearing a special shirt in tribute to the late, great Scott Hastings, who made such a difference in number 13.

When Gray blasted over from close range, a try which was converted by Horne, the feeling of a long day ahead for Fiji was inevitable.

Instead, everything turned upside down. Fiji thundered downfield, set up a ruck and Ikanivere raced to score without the Scottish getting a hand on him.

Isaiah Armstrong-Ravula misses the conversion, but that hardly knocks Fiji out of their stride. Their second score was a peach, the brilliant Giuta Vainicolo bursting out of defence, eating up the ground with his long strides, his incredible athleticism and tremendous power.

From there they separated Scotland. Josua Tuisova dropped yards down the right and joined his wing, Ravutumada, who raced forward relentlessly and raced to collect and score.

Clinical and beautiful. The only upside for Scotland was that, for the second time, the conversion was missed.

Scotland got nothing from their lineout maul in the face of Fiji’s organization and brute force. They couldn’t even get into midfield or out wide.

They had some joy when Tagitagivalu was caught for a header at the horn, but then Scotland failed to capitalize on their advantage.

For 10 minutes last weekend, they were 15 vs. 14 against South Africa and didn’t score. Here, they were 15 vs. 14 and lost a 7-0 sin-bin spell.

The Scots were slow, obliterated at the breakdown and outmuscled in everything.

That third Fiji try, and the one that really left Murrayfield in stunned silence, was started by Caleb Muntz’s clever kick to Ravutumada on the right wing.

Kanakaivata moves from an unguarded ruck to the over due to gradual patience. This time the conversion was good; 17-7 Fiji.

At the break, the hope for Scotland was that Fiji – technically, the home team for the day – would run out of gas and Scotland, as fit as any side out there, would get back into it, especially with a loaded bench.

So it proved. Head coach Townsend stepped onto the bench and one of the new men struck early, the showman firing himself through the Fijians to touch down. Burke knocked over for the conversion and Scotland were back in the game.

More than that, they suddenly put it on. Townsend’s substitute enlivened their performance.

Another, Dobie, put them in front after great work from another, Twipulotu. Burke made it 21-17 with the boot and Scotland were now in control of the game.

Big Cummings, hugely impressive against the Bucks last weekend, crashed over for the bonus-point try and, following the excellence of Dobie, Duhan van der Merwe and Josh Bayliss, went over just before the end to complete the comeback and keep Scotland in rude health atop the Nations Championship League table.